jbrittsthoughts

Must See Church Video

2006-11-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

I, like many people are fans of what Northpoint does. They are reaching tons of people and have rewritten the book on church for a generation. I am a fan of videos in church.

Check out Northpoint's website. They have been doing a series entitled "twisted." It deals with spiritual warfare and the little lies of the enemy that takes the truth of God's word and twists it. They did a 5 week video that was incredible that was a supplement to their series. Check it out. The bar has been raised and might I say it will be tough to reach the quality of what they pulled off. All that to say, it is a must see!

JB

New Coffee Shop

2006-11-14T07:20:00.000-08:00

One mile from my house....yep one mile. It is called "Beaners Coffee." What a cool name, "Beaners!"

Not near as yuppie sounding as Starbucks. I went there this morning and it is cool. The atmosphere is way cooler than Sbucks, and the coffee is not as BOLD, which that means I like it. Starbucks' sissy drinks are good, there regular coffee could choke a goat.

GO BEANERS!

Thanks to these Men of God

2006-10-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

I read Marty Duren's post on pastor appreciation month. In his last paragraph he thanked some people who were "fellow laborers" in the field. I don't know if these guys will ever read this but I want to thank a few of the men and women who have influenced me.

My Dad- Nobody wiser in the world. We are different, but we are the same. Thanks Dad.

Doug- The Godfather of youth ministry in the country(some people say in Ga, but I say the country). You gave me a chance to be who I was and you let me take the steering wheel of your ministry at a young age. Thanks for the experience.

Judy Clay- You believe in me.

Scott Kindig- the father of the year, the most humble minister I know of. If you don't know him...you need to. You will be better for it.

Chris Orr- I met him when he didn't even know how to play the guitar. Now he is one of the prominent worship leaders in the country and my best pal. The cool thing about Chris....is he is the same guy that was doing recreation at a summer camp causing all kind of havoc now, even when he is leading thousands in worship. Worship isn't complicated to him, it's about connecitng people with God....and he does it well!

Anson Mcmahon- Loud, crazy dude from Macon who is a student pastor in California. His passion is contagious.

Kevin Queen- When I needed a partner in ministry he came along. And our paths still keep crossing today. You reminded me ministry was about God and people.

Kevin Miller- Golden Boy

Levi Skipper- Red Neck, Bible Thumping, Jesus Freak. He is who he is and he doesn't apologize for it.

Marty Duren- The Matt Drudge of the SBC. But more importantly an old guy who is open to new tricks.

Joel Engle- Coolest Reformed worship leader that I know.

My Brother- Can't forget him, he is my number 1 fan, and a pretty dang good preacher!

Thanks to these guys. You are influences in my life. Just wanted to put it down....maybe you will read it, maybe you won't.

Moments that make you

2006-10-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

Just pondering life on a Tuesday night. Just curious. I am young in ministry....been active in local church ministry and parachurch ministry for the last 8 years. I have been around "church life" forever. There are moments in all of our lives that make us who we are. Most are not when we are in the spotlight and tonight I am going to jot down a few moments that have shaped my ministry life up to this point.

1. Losing my mother to a battle with cancer when I was 17. You learn real quick when you go through something like this what is important in life and what doesn't really matter. It has help give me perspective and balance in an ever changing world.

2. Working on a summer camp staff. This doesn't seem like a big deal, most of us have done something like this. It was for me, because it opened my eyes to a church world outside of the context I had been raised in.

3. Being a part of a movement of GOD in college. I was one of three guys on a team who had a vision to influence the college community around us. We began a worship gathering(sounds simple, but it changed me) called Thirsty in 1999. For two years God used this once a month gathering to influence hundreds. We had not budget, we had no church backing, we had no clue what we were doing. But God showed up. I learned that it was about a humble heart and a desperate need for God.

4. Ministering at the church I grew up in. The first church I served in was a great church. I had been there as a kid when there was 300 people, and now I was ministering a church of 5,000 people. It was a great experience, God taught me a lot, and ministry was good.

5. Reading "Unstoppable Force." Outside of the Bible there has not been a more influential book in my life. It gave me great vision for what the church could be. The few weeks that I read the book God opened my eyes to who He was and what His call was on my life.

6. Seminary. I don't know if it made me a better minister, but it made me a better person.

7. Helping plant a church. The most exhilirating, rewarding, and trying time of my life. Great Experience!

8. My Dad telling me on the back porch of his house..... " Every experience you have in the ministry is making and defining you, you have to learn to roll with it, don't think to much, but go with what your heart says!" Thanks Dad......I will never forget the simple, but profound talk we had!

How bout you? What are some defining moments in your life? Again, just curious on a Tuesday night.

My wife is pregnant

2006-09-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

Yes...after 4 1/2 years of marriage, my wife and I are expecting our first child. The baby is due April 6th...which makes her about 11 weeks pregnant. So that is cool.

I PROMISE I will be updating my blog every few days......I have not been faithful and should be punished for that.

JASON

Good preaching

2006-07-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

I listened to a message by Matt Chandler earlier today. He preached it at the the RESURGENCE conference held at Mark Driscoll's church in Seattle......all I can say is wow. The dude nailed it. I was challenged and convicted in the same message. Check out the resurgence home page for the talk.

I love guys who first of all are biblical.......not agenda driven or personality driven, but God-centered driven. I love guys who are real. They don't have to say they are real and prove they are real by throwing out some hip lingo...but you can just tell they have experienced what they are preaching.

Most good preaching I have heard lately comes from the Reformed camp. I am not a 100% reformed by any stretch of the imagination, but I would much rather be in that category than most of the guys I hear who are not.

Who inspires or motivates you. Some of my favorite guys are Mark Driscoll.....that dude can lay it on the line. I like Erwin McManusa and Piper. When it comes to teachers Andy Stanley is hard to beat......also check out Dave Edwards he is good as well. There is also a guy named Wes Hamilton who is in Texas that can exposit with the best of em. Who are your favorites...and why?

Church at Mill Creek Update

2006-07-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been almost a month since my last post. I have been in and out of town for 4 weeks. Just wanted to give an update on what is happening with the church I am at.

We have officially almost made it through our first summer as a church. I have to be honest I was a little on the nervous side of things going into the summer. I had heard all of the horror stories about what church attendance over the summer. I have to be honest we did not drop much at all. We had the occasional Sunday that was slim....and really have two weeks left...but for the most part our attendance has stayed right around one hundred or a little more. We have also had an influx of visitors over the last few weeks....which is always cool.

As we move toward the fall I am excited. We will officially launch our all out Kids ministry. We have been doing childrens ministry the whole time...but will step it up a notch as the fall approaches....as we bring in new volunteers and a new look to what we are doing. Our goal with childrens ministry is to build the family. So we are doing our best to make sure that our kids are hearing in a kids way what we are doing with the whole church. We also are partnering with the Mill Creek High School FCA....to help get them off the ground. We have some students who are already coming and plugged in.....and want to begin to be as active as possible with campus ministry.

We will also most likely make the move to Sunday mornings. We have been meeting on Sunday pms....and it has worked...but we know to go to the next level of ministry we must make the move to Sunday AM. Right now our target date for that is the first sunday in October....and we have some options as far as meeting space goes.

We are praying, inviting and investing hard as we move toward the fall.

I love reading the blogs of other church planters....because I know they have been where we are.....and listening to them encourages me...so thanks Gary, Perry, Ben, Tally, and a few others. You dont know me...but I read what you guys are doing and I am encouraged.

Peace

JBRITTT

My take on SBC stuff

2006-06-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

I went to the SBC for the day on Tuesday. Never been to the big show....but been to a lot of state conventions. I was interested to see what would happen in the presidential election.

I vote for Frank Page, and I am glad he won. Why?

Ronnie Floyd is a great pastor and the same with Jerry Sutton. Floyd definitely knows what it takes to reach the lost.....but to be the SBC president I think the CP thing got him. You at least have to give more than 1% to lead churches that give 10% to the CP.

Jerry Sutton has a great track record, but got in late on the race.....period.

Frank Page, don't know the man. I know of his church and his commtiment to church planting and that was good enough for me.

Altough the big guns were for Floyd....I think what we learned is that SBC pastors and leaders are not going to just go with the guy that the Big Boys throw out there. At the end of the day the SBC is in the hands of the pastors who may not run 10,000 but do believe in the SBC and the uniqueness of what sets us apart from other denominations practically(of course theologically)....the CP.

I'm sure people will try to spin why Page won. No it was not just the young leaders who put Page in power. No it was not a vote against mega-church. No it was not even a vote against Patterson or Hunt. It was a vote of authenitcity. If we are going to be about kingdom work and our main avenue to support kingdom work financially is through the CP....then somebody who gives to the CP needs to be the man.

But don't hear me say that the CP was all it was about....because I know there were others factors that I am not going to get into......but that was the kicker this year.

Oh and by the way my kids will go to Public schools, it's what I like to call being the salt and light in a dark world.

CAMP

2006-06-06T13:04:00.001-07:00

I am out of town this week. Sunday night was a great start to the summer at church for us. We made some changes to the room we meet in and it was huge for the atmosphere of the service. It was long overdue.

I am planting the church bi-vocationally...which means at times I have to be out of town......to pay the bills. This is one of the weeks.

PEACE!

CAMP

2006-06-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

Lessons 101: A younger leaders conversation with a Veteran of Ministry

2006-05-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I had an hour and a half conversation with a pastor of a mega-church. We happened to be in the same place at the same time and have known each other for sometime and we began (off the cuff) to discuss SBC stuff. It was very refreshing and interesting to hear his take on things. The following are a few highlights of our conversation.

We began by talking about Greensboro and the upcoming convention. His take was right on. He was well aware of the discontent in SBC circles with much of what is and has happened....and he seemed to understand much of the rumbling that is taking place.

He made the comment that he and another mega church pastor recently talked and that they cannot remember a time in the SBC when it was as fragmented as it is now. The fragments he was talking about were as follows in his eyes: Calvinist, Non- Calvinist, emergent guys, missional guys, bloggers, fundamentalists, landmarkist, etc. I thought that was a pretty fair assesment....some overlap in categories but those are some of the distinct groups we see on the SBC landscape....most would agree.

He believed in the CP.....but completely aggreed that there needs to be a overhaul of how we present it, and where the money goes. His church is a faithful giver.

He was very sharp on his assessment of the traditional vs. contemporary dialogue that is taking place. He realizes that it is not an argument over music styles as much as it is an argument over ministry philosophies and methodologies. I respect the heck out of him...because his take is whatever reaches people and is true to Scripture should and has to be used.

He aggreed that the baptism guideline that is the center of much controversy was completely wrong......and stood on the fact that baptism is identification with Christ, not church, or denomination.

We talked about some of the recent talk of the death of the mega church in emerging generations. He asked me what I thought....and I have read Barna's book, but I have to admit that Mark Driscoll in his new book makes a strong argument for the false claims of talk about the death of mega churches. I tend to believe that there will always be churches who are reaching and appealing to a large audience...period. Now the mega church of the future might look different(mulitple venues), but there will always be churches that reach larger numbers of people and I think that is a good thing.

We talked about the rise of Calvinism in our convention. We both agreed that there is no room for hyper-calvinist.....why....because that is not Biblical....but that discussion is and should continue to be healthy!

There were some other practical things we discussed when it came to ministry, but this for me was a lesson. It was a lesson in the danger of being broad in our genralizations. We seem to lump in the old guard or experienced ministers of mega churches into one category....and that just doesn't work.

If you know me, you probably know who I am talking about. The reason I have not stated his name is because I did not tell him I was going to be blogging about our conversation. I'm sure he wouldn't have minded....but I know that he would get my vote if he ever ran....and he should run, but that is just my two sense worth!

Random Thoughts onThursday

2006-05-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay, no particular reason I haven't posted just been busy this week.

Here are a couple of random thoughts floating around in my head that I thought I would put down......
oh and by the way I am a graduate of seminary officially now! Hoooray!!!!!!!!!

Momentum- Good thing to have....last few weeks we have been on a role, thank God for that
Community Involvement pays off- we are sponsoring and coordinating the first ever Baccalaurette Service for Mill Creek the High School we meet at...which is the epicenter for the community we are in. They actually asked us to do it, and we are pumped to do it!
Da Vinci Code- interested to see it, I think the conversation it has sparked is a good thing....no matter how far-fetched the story is. I dont think God is too worried about it. He's Sovereign and can handle it!
Next Level- I think this summer is going to be spent for us preparing to go to the next level this fall. Casting vision and mobilizing the troops.
Supportive Wife- My wife is 100% supportive of all I do, that makes ministry a blessing and not a burden
SBC- I like reading the blogs and hearing concerns raised within SBC life.....next few years(maybe even months) will be very telling to the influence the SBC has in the future of the ministry landscape here and abroad.
New York- I am spending Memorial Day in the Big Apple, never been, but I am pumped
Mark Driscoll's new book is better than his first one. Most interesting and RAW book on church planting and growing a church that I have read. I read it in 3 days.
Organic Faith- reading it now
NBA- the NBA is back, the playoffs have been the best basketball I have seen since the Jordan-era
Season Finale week- Lost, 24, should be unbelievable next week. The Office was hysterical last week in its Finale
Mentoring- the coolest thing I am doing right now is pouring into guys who will be ministers in churches around the country.
Prayer- learning how to pray everyday

Peace

Where we are....Where we are going

2006-05-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is an update on MY church (www.churchatmillcreek.com). We are beginning month 5 this week. Things have gone really well, we have had ups and downs the first few months. I HAVE LEARNED A LOT, and I am actually more pumped about what is next than ever.

What I've learned:
- Church planting is a process, if you don't won't to do the dirty work of ministry than don't do it.

- What applies to some doesn't apply to all. I've read tons of books and sought tons of advice on people who are experts in the church plant field and church world in general. What I've come to peace with is that what works one place, doesn't mean it will work for you. And VICE VERSA.

- Culture is everything. The best thing we have going for us is we have created a unique culture. You will not find a more friendly enviornment than our lobby. We literally have to herd people out of the lobby and in the auditorium to start the service, and we start and not half the crowd is even in there even though we herded them.

- Sunday evenings are not a bad time to meet. It is not a long term deal at all, but we have gained people and our people have come to love it. I have to admit some Sunday's(3) we have had no visitors and others we have had a lot. So you can have vistior flow on Sunday nights, no matter what the experts say.

- I say that to say this....in the south, whether you go to church or not, the time everybody thinks of to go to church is 11am on Sunday morning. This week I had a friend at a church down the road that he had somebody come into their church thinking they were at ours, because they came to visit on Sunday morning, thinking that is when we met. I hope they get that person to plug into their church, they need it. Or maybe he will come on a Sunday night. So lesson learned is right now it is a necessary obstacle to overcome, but not long term.

- Bi-Vocational is a blessing on the congregation, but can be a burden to deal with. We have a staff of 7 folks in a church of 100-130 people(depends on the week). None of us are paid, but all of us work to make it happen. the problem is not Sunday it is Monday-Friday. What we need to be doing in the week, building relationships with lost folks, serving the community, meeting with our folks.....we have a tough time doing. We have had 2, count it 2 staff meetings where all 7 of us have been there. Most of the time most of us are there, but it still can get frustrating. What do you mean by blessing Jason? You are able to not be a burden financially on the church at first. We are able to put all of our money toward things we need and for this reason we are way beyond stuff wise where most church plants our size are(we have room, and stuff that we will need for 500 now, even though we are only at 100, so that has been nice). BUT for all you skeptics we are setting aside funds to begin to pay in the fall, because we know it is getting to be the time to do so.

- Lost people- it is a process. We have had up to 10 families that have visited us that have no church background, they consider us there home church now, but that doesn't mean they come each week. Can be frustrating, but I am glad we have them.

- Small group multiplication- we need to, but we are still mystified at the way to do it. Probably a little soon, but we really stess life groups.....and we have potential life group leaders ready to go.....we just have to get the A,B, C's down of how to make this happen.

- Membership- we don't do it yet, but it is important....I will explain that in a later post.

- Personally- it is the most emotional, gut wrenching thing that I have done in ministry, but it is a blast.

What do you do?

2006-05-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

I am preaching this week on Mothers Day on the passage in James 4 that says, "anyone then who knows the good he ought to do it and doesn't sins." Probably the last two years of my life there has not been a verse that has shaped and intrigued me more that that one. We are doing a series entitled "Life" and this is week 4 of that series. The crux of the message boils down to this....Are you a person of great potential or a person of great influence?

It is mother's day and this will be my 10th mother's day since I lost my mother to a battle with cancer. What makes me smile most about remembering her is the LIFE SHE LIVED, the influence she had. I don't remember her for what she didn't do, I remember for what she did.

I think the truth for the Church and Christianity in general in America is we have become defined by what we don't do instead of what we do. We don't drink(at least good Baptists don't), we don't have sex until marriage, we don't believe in homosexuality as a right lifestyle, we don't vote democrat(at least if your asking we don't), etc, etc, etc. But the tragedy is when we look at Jesus' life we him defining the Kingdom, the life of a believer by what the GAVE themselves to, not what they seperated themselves from.

Erwin Mcmanus or Easy E(that's what I call him, just kidding) writes in Seizing Your Divine Moment or now what we call Chasing Daylight(re-published).....In America we define holiness by what we seperate ourselves from instead of what we give ourselves too. He goes onto say, "The greatest tragedy in life is not the sins we commit, but the life we fail to live."

I think this shows up even in the emerging church or the future church or the postmodern church or whatever you want to call the new church that is surfacing in America. We are defined many times by what we don't do (programs, philosophy, strategies, etc)that our forefathers did.

- We don't do choirs
- We don't do ties
- We don't so Sunday School
- We don't do visitation
- We don't do deacons
- We don't do denominations
- We don't do politics
- We don't do three points and a poem
- We don't do invitations
- We don't do buildings(at least big honkin ones)
- We don't do VBS (or at least call it that)
- We don't do CP ( for all you SBC'ers)
- We don't do mega church

Whether we mean to or not we easily become defined by what we don't do. And if we only do the opposite or cooler versions of these things then it is all semantics anyway, right? I want my young (4 month old church) to be defined by what we do. I have become more aware as we have grown and taken shape how easy PRIDE slips in when I define who we are by what we don't do.

Maybe it's just me but I don't think it was ever Jesus' plan for his body to hang their hat on what they didn't do that their predecessors did....to define what they were!

Just a thought!

Graduate

2006-05-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

This is my final week of seminary work. I have put 3 1/2 years of my life into finishing my Masters. I will graduate(fingers crossed) from a SBC seminary this week. My wife will graduate the same day from the University of Georgia with her masters as well. We have been married four years and have always been in school. Needless to say the Fall months will be different around the Britt household with no nights away for school work. I have heard for some time now people hold high a seminary education and other people bash seminary. The following is some points I want to share about my seminary experience:

1. I went to seminary because I felt God called me to it. I had much growing(and still do) to do Biblically and ministerally.
2. I don't think seminary is a must at all for people to be effective in ministry.
3. At the same time I think there are a lot of guys who have not been to seminary that desperately need it.
4. I heard Louie Giglio (probably one of the top 3 communicators in Christian circles today) say, " I hear guys bash seminary a lot, my question is what is the problem with taking three years of your life to let God form you into who he wants you to be the rest of your life." Great line.....
5. Seminary is great Biblically, and is not so great practically.
6. I learned tons theologically and was challenged a great deal to find out where I really stand on many things.
7. There is not one thing practically that I use day to day in the ministry field that I learned in Seminary.
8. Many say that professors in Seminary could never pastor a local church or at least be an effective pastor. Yes, that is true in some cases, but I also know a lot of pastors who could never teach a seminary class. So I say that is why there is different callings and giftings on men called by God.
9. I think seminary professors understand the world we live in, but struggle to embrace the need for the types of ministry we need in this world.
10. I think much of the Bureacracy problems we have in SBC life spills over into seminary, and much of the Bureacracy comes from seminary.
11. I think going straight to seminary without any ministry experience in the field is dangerous. Guys get stuck in the philosophical, because they've never had to deal with the practical. If you go.....don't go straight from college.....
12. Seminary has made me a better pastor/leader/communicator. How? It made me wrestle with things I would have never wrestled with.
13. Go if and only if God calls you.

Lessons learned from a seminary soon to be graduate!

"24"

2006-05-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

The greatest show ever. Period. End of discussion, I will argue with anyone who says different. Jack Bauer is the MAN. Started watching in season 2. I went back and watched season 1 in 4 days, and I haven't look back yet.

Best Seasons- 1 and 4.....didn't think they could beat 4, but 5 is dang good.

If I were not in ministry I would be Jack Bauer. Sure I am a sissy, but I can have dreams too. He has saved the USA's butt four seasons is a row....and heck the world's butt too. This season the guy who plays the president should win an award for his role. Everybody and I mean everybody(tony, edger, michelle) are expendible, and that is what makes the show so great. You better believe Audrey doesn't make it this year. That is my prediction! Since I've started a church in the last few months I have grown to love the show more. I think it is because Jack seems to always face the impossible, and doesnt even blink. Church planting seems impossible on some days, maybe that is the connection!

Other shows I have watched over my 27 years of TV experience.....even though you didn't ask
The X Files- yea I know I am a geek, but aliens intrigue me. It went down hill the last few seasons, but in its hay day, it was the STUFF.
Mission Impossible- My Dad got me watching that one. The 3rd installment of the movie comes out this weekend......one problem, Tom Cruise is in it, and he my friends is an IDIOT!
The A Team- Mr. T, enough said
Dawsons Creek- Just Kidding, never saw it when it was on the air...but have caught some re-runs on TBS in the mornings....and laughed out loud at the UNREALISTIC, POLITICALLY CORRECT crap that it is.
Alias- my wife and i loved it...when JJ Abrams was writing the show, after he left.....it went down hill FAST!
Seinfeld- funny, funny, funny
The Office- just got turned onto this show by a buddy of mine. It is no doubt the funniest show on TV right now. Dwight Schrute is a hilarious character.
LOST- jury is out, first season was AWESOME, this season, i dont know. I get frustrated with it, because they never ANSWER anything!

Honestly I never have watched TV at great length, I hate reality shows.....and don't get mad at me, but i have never got into CSI to much either....but these are the shows I have or are watching.

Not that anybody cares....just thinking out loud!

SERMON SERIES - LIFE

2006-04-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

We are preaching through the book of James over the next few weeks at my church(www.churchatmillcreek.com). I am tackling the Faith/Works passage this week. If I have ever been pumped to preach it is this passage. Often times I have referred to this passage, but never taken it head on in a sermon.

Our series is entitled "Life," and we are examining how our faith plays out in our everday life. It went well last week as we began. We are not preaching verse by verse, but highlighting a segment of each chapter...and then coming back at a later date to preach the rest of it in another series. Has anyone out there ever preached this passage....how did you preach it, what was your angle? Just curious?

Staff thoughts

2006-04-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

I was reading some thoughts on church staffs/team....after three and a half months of being a part of a church plant here are mine..........

If you would not hang out with them away from church....don't bring them on.

Trust is the key. If you don't trust their hearts, integrity, work ethic.......don't even think about it......

If you have to convince them of your vision.....dont even think about it

If they have a full proof plan that will make their ministry fly if they are allowed to implement it....dont even think about it

If they don't understand the meaning of the word sacrifice......dont even think about it

If they want a title.....dont even think about it

If they like ministy, but there is no evidence of a call on their life....dont even think about it!

These are things that after three months of observation I am sure about. I have served on staff at two other large churches and a denominational gig. Maybe some of these things are not essential in an existing enviornment, but in something from the ground up they are.

We have a weird but effective set up. First of all we are bivocational. Why? We saw it as a way to bless the church as we began....so we all agreed to not take a salary for the first year. At the same time we are budgeting to begin to bring folks on and compensate them.

We have 8 people that are considered staff leadership. Three of us are elders per se. Myself, our lead pastor, and our life group/family life pastor. All that means is that any major decision practically, financially, philosophically we decide on us. Our lead pastor has of course the trump card vote. But 99.9% of the time we are on the same page. Our worship leader oversees the Sunday Services as far as flow, techincal stuff, etc. We have a guy whose sole job is to build bridges for partnerships in the community. We have a childrens/preschool gal. We have a youth guy and a dude who heads up our video aspect of things.

All this to say we all have way different personalities, but we all have the same goal. Of the 3 elder/pastors we are all way different. One of us is a loving, nurturing, relational guy. One of us is a dominant, go-get'em type of personality. And the other is a mixture of both. It is a great combination and has worked only because WE LIKE and TRUST each other.

Tell me about your take on staffs/leadership....love to hear how things work where you are at!

Trying to be missional!

2006-04-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

My wife and I try to spend time with two couples at least once every two weeks that used to live in our neighborhood who are unchurched. Last night we went and at Sushi with them.

We had a great time. One of the couples is a little older than Nan and I and have been married for 5 years. The other couple is engaged, living together, and about to be married. I have found that I am never the one who has to bring up the "spiritual talk." They always do...and are all deeply spiritual people, but just don't attend church. If you've read Barna's book "Revolution," that describes them. I have shared extensively with them about Christ, my church, my spiritual walk and I have listened as they have shared with me about their lives.

If there ever was relational evangelism in my life...this is it. I continue to pray for them...and I believe that God is going to do something awesome in their lives.

Baptists and the Bible

2006-04-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is the beginning of a few posts to come...where I am going to weigh in on much of what I see happening in SBC life. I am a graduating NOBTS student(May 2006).....over the last few days I have gone back and read through some of my REQUIRED seminary reading....and in light of what I see on the horizon I wanted to take some time to comment on a few (hopefully) thought provoking points.

Russ Bush and Tom Nettles both SBC seminary profs at one time(not sure where they are now) wrote pretty much what is the handbook on the correlation between Baptists and the Bible. The book was first in print in 1980(hmmmm....what was happening then) and reprinted in 1999. Fittingly the book is entitled "Baptists and the Bible."

Here are a couple of excrepts from the introduction pages of that book:

Baptists are a great people. They love God and they believe in the Bible. Jesus is the center of their interest. Discipleship is their goal in life. Evangelism and missions tie them together in voluntary organizations. Economic strength is their achievement. Faith and hope shape their theology. Love is their unity. (xvii, Preface to the Original Edition(1980)

This is the view of Bush and Nettles on what Baptist should be....or in their opinion were as they began their book. Now, I agree 100% that this should be the description of what people think when they think of Baptists. But I would contend that even those who call themselves Baptists would admit many times we fall far short of this standard.

Baptists are a Great People- YES

They love God and Believe in the Bible- Yes to both....but it seems that belief in the Bible now....must be in line with what "our grand leaders" interpret the Bible to be. And if a differing view arises....well then you don't believe in the Bible, or at least don't hold to the inerrancy of Scritpure!

Jesus is the center of their interest- Yes, he should be. But what seems to take up much of our time and interest is methodology, theology, and power-ology(my word).

Discipleship is their goal in life- Yes, but it seems we are more concerned with tracking Baptisms, Buildings, and Bottoms in the seats. How do you track discipleship.....only by personal transformation(and that takes to long). So sure it should be our goal...but we hand out prizes to those who attain more tangible(in our society) results.

Evangelism and Missions tie them together in voluntary organizations- Yes, but lately it seems like this is the one that tears us apart.

Economic Strength is their achievement- ??????????Not sure what that means. If it means we have 16 million Southern Baptists in America....than hooray! Hopefully world change is their achievement.....but we are still working on that.

Faith and Hope shape their theology- Not rules and laws.....but ask many unchurched what Christians believe and they would say...."well they believe you can't do this, or that, or associate with them, or vote like that and so on and so forth.

Love is their unity- Yes, love for Jesus....but we seem to miss it on love for each other.

Now I would argue that is just an honest assesment. And it is not just an assessment of our denom. but can be said about the church as a whole. Yes, we are a fallen people and that has much to do with it. The problem is not the church, it is the people that make up the church. It is not our denomination, but many times the people who make up our denomination. But I think to go from point A to point B we have to identify point A. Personally I know I fall into many of these traps and everyday I would love to be a person that can be defined by what the paragraph above says....but as a denomination what I am ENCOURAGED by is their are many people who are beginning to ask the right questions. Because I believe that their are many who want to be ministers who are defined by the paragraph above....but realize there are issues to address to get to that point.

I also read through another book again and was startled by the last few pages. "Biblical Authority" by James T. Draper(Jimmy) and Kenneth Keathley made some eye-opening assesments of the dangers or "pitfalls to avoid" in SBC life. Their book chronicles the resurgence and focuses on the issue of the "sufficiency of Scripture." They end with some interesting...almost prophetic statements:

One of the first pitfalls is the danger of Christian Cannibalism- They state "During the heyday of the debate, opponents of the conservative resurgence argued that they struggle over the Bible was a Pandora's Box that would lead to endless bickering. They predicted that conservatives would eventually turn on one another and perhaps would irreversibly damage the Southern Baptist Convention in the process."(137, Biblical Authority)

Man oh man....is that not the truth. God help me as a young leader to not find worth in tearing down others who love you and are doing your work....just because I don't see things the exact way they do.

Their were a few other pitfalls they mentioned but the last was the most interesting:

The danger of passionless orthodoxy: "It is possible to be doctrinally correct while comfortably complacent."(139) " The last attitude that we need to adopt is a maintenance mentality that turns inward. We will not evangelize the world if we merely try to hold on to what we already have by circling the wagons rather than forging ahead to new territory. (139)

That my friends is what we see happening. Many people on many blogs and websites have in a round about way...stated this to be true of what is happening within our little DENOMINATION we call the SBC.

So what must we do: pray, push, keep asking the right questions. Not become what we see....in our own way.

So I end with this....in a book I just finished reading:

We cannot have a relationship with our Christology- we can have relationship with Jesus Christ.

Our soteriology will not save us from our sins- our Savior can.

Our eccelesiology does not make us one- the Lord of the Church does.

Our eschatology will not transform this flawed universe- Jesus the King of Kings and Prince of Peace will do that,

And no matter how much we love our theology- it will never love us back.

I am not the pastor of a big church....nor do I have near as much life experience as many who lead the way. But I do know this to be true: It is only in Christ do we find hope, love and life in our personal lives, in our churches, and in our beloved denomination. Keep pressing and asking the right questions!

Idlewild Baptist Church

2006-04-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

Not that I have gained a lot of readers in a week yet....but sorry for the delay on my latest post.

I was in Orlando, Florida speaking for Idlewild Baptist Church MIDDLE SCHOOL MINISTRY. It was a blast. There were about 200 something of them little critters and they were as cool as any group I have been with in a while. They have a great student pastor and a he has a great support staff. I have to admit I was a little hesitant about speaking to just a middle school crowd. It has been a long time since I have had just a middle school crowd. But the truth is they were awesome. There is still an innocence in a 7th grade kid that has long left a punk 11th grade kid. All you have to do is say what's up......on stage....and they go crazy. It was a blast.

Tomorrow I am going to post some thoughts on church culture in general that I have observed and been humbled by the last few weeks.....so tune in!

Value of People

2006-03-30T13:55:00.000-08:00

One thing I have learned in this planting process is how much I value people compared to the idea that people are valuable. Both are basically saying the same thing...but let me explain.

I've been in three local church setting and a parachurch setting in the last 8 years I've been involved with ministry. My first experience was with a church plant(did not even know what that was back then) that had gone bad...but they were trying to hold on. And I was a young freshman/sophmore in college and my name was given to them. I was the youth pastor. I lived 45 miles away from them and would drive back and forth on Sundays and lead SS and youth worship for 15 kids. We did a DNOW that had 40 kids and I had to bust my butt to get that many. But every visitor that walked through the door or prospect that some kid gave me I was all over. WHY? Because I was trying to grow a ministry....I wanted to reach kids...and so every name I got I went crazy over.

Then I went to help another church plant( that was 4 years old and going well) in my college town Rome, Ga. I began the college ministry at that church as a college student. Things went really well. The first year we had 80-100 kids involved in what we were doing. The next year we started a city wide deal and saw 500 students come through the door once a month. But the funny thing was we had people lots of people...and I followed up with them....but I did not go after them as much.

Next Stop BIG CHURCH time. I finished college and the three years after that I worked at one of the Big Boys in the state. It was the church I had grown up in as a kid and now I was back. When I got their the college ministry has shrunk to 20 people. In a year we were back to 150. Now when we were at 20 I was crazy going after people. But when we got to 150....I slowed down. Yes, I kept following up....but often I delegated the responsibility....but didn't delegate with passion. We kept seeing people....but what once was the value of people....now moved to the idea that "sure people were valuable, but we have a bunch of them."

Now I am in a church plant and it is funny how crazy I am about following up and making contacts. I can look back and see this pattern in my life. Right now we are at the size where everybody is valuable. We are trying to reach people....and people reach people. Yea I also know there is different levels of leadership and right now we are at level 1. But here is the deal.....the value of people never change whether 100 or 1000....and I think the minister and the church that remembers that....is the church that gets it done over the long haul. Just thought I would share what I am learning.....

What Next?

2006-03-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

Life is never easy. Ministry does not always play out the way you envisioned it. The question I constantly bog myself down with is what is next.....

Let me illustrate. I am a part of a new church( 12 weeks, and counting). We are all bi-vocational, we all have experience in ministry and limited experience in church planting. We launched and things are actually going extremely well. Attendance has been good. People have connected and are seeming to get a picture of where we are going. Team is working well together. Yet....I still seem to ask what is next?

I am one who has always run the risk of running before I can walk. All my life I have been around ministry and the church. I have stood in front of 10,000 and preached....and I have stood in front of 5 and preached. In my other ministry experiences....the same rang true. Always on the tip of my tongue is the question "what next?"

What will it take to get to the next level?

What is the next step to implement?

Who do I need to talk to next to get prespective on things now?

What do I need to pray now...so I can get to next....

Yes. Some will say that is the sign of a leader. But I would argue if not balanced it is the sign of someone who finds his contentment in ministry and not in God.

Philippians 4-....content in whatever the circumstance......

So I am swallowing the pill (and it is hard) that I have to be content.....while asking the question "what next?"

What next is often a question of Who do you trust today!

Sunday, March 26th

2006-03-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

We just finished our Sunday evening service at The Church at Mill Creek. Things went well. The spirit and flow of the service was great. Our numbers were a little down....from the previous two weeks...which is a part of the planting process....but overall things went great.

We are in the middle of a series called "We are Family." We are walking through the prayer of Jesus in John 17. Scott our lead pastor has led this series, and is doing a great job.

We are approaching our first easter service as a church and we are excited. Not sure how easter service at 5:30pm on Sunday night will go....but hey we are the most unorthodox church plant I know of. This is my first church planting experience...and I am loving it. Some days it is the greatest thing in the world, some days it is far from that. But I love the people I am around and I can see clearly where we are going!

If you've never planted a church.....try it.....it's a blast!

March Madness

2006-03-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better than March Madness. I am at heart first and foremost a college football fan. But man...what a tournament.

These are the four teams I took to the final four-

UNC- (I hate Duke, and Georgia stinks at BBALL....so I have found purpose in pulling for the Heels)
UCONN
Gonzaga
and yes LSU......

Dang right all you Dukies....how bout them Tigers.

LSU has got to be one of the most athletic teams ever. They can jump out of the Gym.

So now I am on the LSU wagon. Go TIGERS!

Purity talk in Newnan

2006-03-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a one night speaking deal in Newnan, Ga. It was cool. There were four churches who did a DNOW weekend together and tonight was there rally. Thanks for having me.

Their theme was "Passion and Purity." I have to be honest anytime someone asks me to come in and speak and their theme is purity I get weirded out. Why? I completely understand and believe that the issue of purity, lust, sex, dating is the #1 issue facing students in our culutre. If you think otherwise your fooling yourself. And I know Scripture lays out truth time and time again and God calls us to be a "Holy" people. But what I struggle with is this. I don't know these kids at all. And for me to give them a talk and tell them not to have sex and abstain from other stuff....can be difficult. Because the truth of the matter is they don't know me either. As I worked and thought throughout the week....I came to a realization. The issue of purity is a by product for those who follow Christ on their view of what their life is about. Yea....I know that's not a profound statement. But I found freedom in walking through that with the students.

The thought is that Paul says ( I Cor. 6:19-20) our life is not our own! We have been bought with a price. I took time and looked at the life of John the Baptist. This dude has become my favorite guy in Scripture the last year of my life. Jesus says "He was the greatest born of a woman"( Matt 11). Yet he never wrote a book in the Bible, nor did he ever perform a miracle. He lived in the desert with the scum of the earth....and preached Jesus is coming. He embraced his Insignificance. If there was ever anyone who could say that their life was "not their own" it was him. And so we looked at his life in comparison with ours. The thought was this.....the more we realize that in the grand scheme of things we are small, insignificant.....the more we realize it is the message(the person of Jesus) that makes us great....that gives us significance. If our life is our own...if we are what life is all about....then sure, lust, being impure all you want. Live it up! Why...because that is all you have.

But if we truly embrace and find fullness in our smallness.....purity struggles take a backseat. Why? Because our life is not our own. Good stuff.

Peace

engaging culture???

2006-03-24T20:51:00.000-08:00

This is a post....that I put up in three months ago, that somehow I didn't post....I thought I did, but I found it sitting in my archives on my blogger space(again i'm new to this whole blogging thing). I was frustrated with somethings and people around me when I posted it......but hey here it is, enjoy!

Broad Generalizations.....We all at times make'em. They make us sound like we know what we are talking about ministry wise whether we do or not. I have recently heard the term "engage culture" a lot. From pastors, writers, thinkers, leaders, and so on. Heck I even like dropping the catch phrase occasionally myself. But I guess my question is what do we really mean by "engage culture." Basically, I would contend we are saying the same thing that the generation before us said when they used the words: evangelism/outreach.The difference is they were specific in what they meant by evangelism and outreach. For example evangelism/outreach meant...and for that matter still means: witnessing training, special events/crusades/revivals, visitation, bus ministry, soul winning workshops, etc. They had tangible, specific examples of what it meant to do outreach. We on the other hand......get pigeonholed by our forefathers...because we are vague or philosophical when we drop such lingo as "engage culture."

I think my generation or what would be referred to as "emerging or young leaders" have to constantly be careful to bridge the gap between the philosophical and the practical. Do we mean when we say we must "engage culture"....build relationships, cultivate commuinty, be progressive in our worship style, have cool candles and incense burning on stage to be a little mystical(sorry for the sarcasm), be grounded in apologetics, social gospel approach, converstaional in our preaching/teaching, use movie clips in our sermons, read the latest greatest NY TIMES bestseller book and discuss it as it pertains to Scripture or what......We are broad in our lingo. I for one am learning that there are implications for everything we say. We want to be heard...but are we really saying anything. Are we using relevant sounding rhetoric for the sake of relevance.

At the end of the day....I for one am defining for myself what I mean when I say we need to "engage culture." Philosophical is nice in higher education classes or Christian superman Conference settings....but it doesn't cut it in the real world dealing with real people with real issues. What the heck does engage culture mean to the construction worker, teacher, doctor, accountant, financial planner, judge, attorney, house wife, 16 year old hormone crazed boy, single mom that attends our church on any given Sunday.Hey I got an idea...let's engage culture....but truly reach our community and not just talk about how we need too..........

To all the places I've been and I am going-

2006-03-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

One of the other reasons I started blogging for real was this.....believe it or not I make my living (somewhat) doing the whole itinerate speaker thing. Never planned on being an evangelist, but for the past six years(while I was working at a church, and while I was in seminary) much of my salary has come from preaching in different places.

They always ask me if I have a website....which I do not. But I recently started telling them I do have a blog, then I realized I have not been faithful to the whole blogging process. So now I am faithful to it.

The first two months of the church I committed to not speaking anywhere....while we were getting started. I still do my best not to be gone on Sundays....but many weekends and weeknights I am gone. Thanks to Big Valley Grace Community Church in Modesto, Ca. Awesome student ministry....and awesome student pastor. Thanks to GBC and youth ministry office...for letting me keep my hands in things. Thanks to Harps Crossing BC in Fayetteville....cool deal you guys do called 92@9.... love speaking there. Thanks to Grady County Baptist Association in SOUTH Ga. 4 night youth revival.....great people, great week. Bunch of kids saved. Thanks to FBC Alpharetta(yes there is more than 1 church in Alpharetta). Congrats to their youth pastor whose wife had a little baby the day after the DNOW ended. Thanks to New Hope BC in Toccoa, Ga. Great Church.

And thanks to Idlewild in Tampa, Central in Warner Robbins, Two Rivers in Nashville, and their are some more that I will be at...just dont have my calendar in front of me....in the next few weeks.

Books I have read and am about to read:

2006-03-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

Just finished:

The Jesus Creed, by Scot McKnight. GREAT BOOK. Focuses on Jesus command to love God and to love others. Really focuses on the impact of what Jesus was calling people to do based off of the Old Testament SHEMA. Gonna be a preaching series in the future for me.

Your God is to Safe, by Mark Buchannan- He is a pastor in Canada who has written a few books. This is the first one I read of his. It is solid. Starts out with a bang slows down about half way through. But man he helped me see how many times I choose to live in what he defines as "borderland." My buddy Anson Mcmahon who is a student pastor in Modesto, Ca. had it on his book shelf and I stole it. When I was speaking for him in January. Buchannan paints a great picture on how we at times create our own God in life, ministry, etc....instead of seeing the God of the Scriptures.

Stand Against the Wind, Erwin Mcmanus- It is the highlights of Revolution of the Soul, a previous book. Short book, not much to it. but anything he writes I read...at least twice.

About to read:

The Secret Message of Jesus, by Brian McLaren. Yea he is a controversial, philosophical kind of guy.....but you know what he makes me think.

Breaking the Missional Code, Ed Stetzer and David Putnam- church planting guru's.....so therefore I better read....because I am not.

About to re-read:

Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell- I read it and loved it. My buddy Wade Morris read it and loved it....which if you know Wade says a lot. So guess what I am going to re-read it.

anybody else got anything they are reading

Church update

2006-03-24T12:36:00.000-08:00

Ok. We'll we are 11 weeks old. Our church is called "the church at mill creek" (www.churchatmillcreek.com)
We started official services on January 8th at Mill Creek High School. We meet at 5:30pm on Sunday nights. Yea I know for all of you church planting guys and church growth guys that is a weird time....but I will explain in a minute. We have six guys(and their families) who were the original plant team. We prayed and sought direction for a year and a half before ever holding our first public interest meeting.

The area is prime for a new church. There are nothing but people and neigborhoods everywhere. And the
growth is continuing to build. It is in the northern most part of Gwinnett County about 40 miles north of Atlanta. When we began our intial thougts and early vision of what could be, we were not set on the location....but more into what the heart and driving vision behind the church would be. We looked and prayed over a lot of areas....and we landed in Hoschton, Ga....or what some may call the Hamilton Mill area(exit 120, I-85N)

Why Sunday evening? This in no way is a long term plan, but the HS was open to us using the place on Sunday evenings, even though there was a church re-location/re-launch going to be meeting in the High School on Sunday Am. We have an incredible relationship with the HS. They are a two year old school, and have really been open to our hearts to serve the school and the developing community around it. It is a developing community. There is not a little downtown area, with a courthouse, old diner, etc. It is a place that has developed around a large Subdivision and continues to boom.

Numerically we are running anywhere from 110-150 on Sunday nights. Depends on the influx of visitors from one week to another. We've put priority on our worship gathering and small groups. And that is all for now. We have five small groups going and realistically we could use 8-10. But we are not rushing the process...we are working to raise up small group leaders....instead of pushing people to lead just because they could be good.

Our team of people are out of this world. Our pastor is as Godly and kingdom minded as anyone I have ever met. His name is Scott Kindig. I oversee the day to day life of the church, the staff, admin stuff, and share the teaching load. Chad Childress is over our small groups which we call "life groups." He also coordinates and gives direction to all age-graded, family ministry stuff. Our worship leader is a guy named Chris Orr. He is my best buddy, and is so driven he will drive you crazy. He sees the big picture and not just the songs we sing. He oversees our production aspect of all we do as well. Nate Mcgill does all of our video stuff. We put great value on reclaiming culture for Christ.....and Nate gets that....and makes it happen. Dustin Mattox is the coolest cat we have. He is an expectant father.....and helps drive our community impact aspect of what we do. He is the best people person I know. Christy Davis is a gal who believed in the vision and heart behind what we are doing and moved over here from the great state of Alabama to give leadership to our preschool/childrens ministry. She knows what she is doing...and we lovingly call her the "hurricane" because she shakes things up wherever she is at. We recently realized we actually have a good group of studnets coming and a guy named Jody Steward has stepped up and is leading and laying the foundation for a student ministry. There are a lot of other folks who make it happen. We have our first official administrative assistant. Her name is Amanda and she is unbelievably Godly and gifted.

What is next- that is the question we ask everyday?

I am in.....

2006-03-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

Ok. I thought about hopping in the blogging world a few months back. i got in on it....i thought then i just kinda kept reading blogs and not ever writing anything. And just the past few days.....I continue to be inspired by guys I read and their comments on church, culture, and creativity....and you know what I can do this thing we call blogging to.

so my first blog is a "shout out" to all the bloggers who have inspired me over the past few months.

Marty Duren- This guy is a personal friend and a guy I would consider a mentor from a distance. Marty sees the "Big Picture". He pastors a great church and has really led them and continues to lead them from a traditional model of ministry to more of a progressive model of ministry. I respect the heck out of him. WHY? Because I know him, and I know his heart. He is humble, yet bold. That is what I aspire to be. I have to admit he recently is known for making waves in our neat little denomination we call the Southern Baptist Convention. He is asking the right questions the right way...and putting his neck on the line in ministry circles everyday....to make sure we are part of a movement....instead of a dying institution. The difference between Marty and other guys (often times me) is we are all asking the same questions in our mind....but he is not stopping there. He is asking the questions where all can see. Props to you Marty and thanks whether you know it or not for your inspiration.

Gary Lamb- This guy loves Jesus and is a freak for reaching people. Gary and I grew up in the same small town. I am younger than him, but we both were affiliated with the same church(I went, he went when he had to). I am a part of a twelve week old church(things are going really well, thanks for asking). But a few months back I stumbled across his blog, and I can honestly say I read it everyday. Gary is real. He is who he says he is....and a far a I can tell that's the way he pastors. He speaks his mind and whether people want to admit it or not, he is normally dead on in his thoughts on the church. I read his blog for two reasons. He is the pastor of a church plant that is further down the road than the one I am a part of. He has great insights and is honest about where his church is (ridestone church, canton ga). I also read it because usually once a week I laugh out loud.....at one of his random posts. Gary, I am going to come one Sunday soon....I promise, and thanks for being you.

Ben Arment- We've never met. And if you ask him who I am....he would say I dont have a clue. But I read his blog(link from Gary) and I dig his take on ministry. He is the pastor of History Church(coolest name of a church I know) in northern Va. I can see myself in his leadership style, just from reading his posts. I hope to meet him soon. Ben, keep up the good work.

my next blog is coming soon...like in five minutes

I like control!!!!!!

2005-11-27T14:53:00.000-08:00

I like control.....yea i admit it.....

the more and more I try to live life trusting God with the unknown, the more and more I realize I am a control freak.

I am a part of a church plant team. We are launching in January of 2006, and we have been praying, planning, and prepping for over a year. The number one thing I have learned thus far.....is that planting a church is a huge step of faith. I love it when I can have things layed out perfectly, and plan in place, all the details worked out to my liking. As good and blessed as the ride has been thus far this last month I have realized that truly at the end of the day God knows and is orchestrating his plan even when I am clueless.

For example we have gathered a great core group of people......began preview services, small groups, and community service projects. We have assembled a great team of leaders that are pouring their hearts and lives into this venture....and even had a facility to begin our services....or so I thought. About a month ago we got thrown our first curve ball thrown at us. The high school that we had been in contact with for over 4 motnhs decided they may want to go a different way. No we are not completely out of the picture for using the facility...but what once was concrete, is now let's say less than concrete. So of course my first move was to control the situation......I asked questions like.....What is their problem, this is the enemy attacking us, etc, etc.....

When in reality at the end of the day we have to stay faithful to what God has called us to do. Staying faithful is much easier when your plan is working to perfection, but when there are detours me for one get's all messed up. Good news...as we have stayed faithful to what and where God has called us......we get a chance to meet with the High School tomorrow at 3pm and share our hearts. What will be the result???? I truly don't know.....but you know what....it has taken me a month to be able to say.....that is OK.

Question?????AM i the onl y guy in ministry who has control problems? Am i the only guy who loves to give God the credit when things are working to perfection? Maybe.....but my guess would be probably not.

Hey at the end of the day....it's all good.....because I am getting to do what I love, with the people I love, serving the God who changed my life!!!!!